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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29079159">Cwyllan Mannes Bāt</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Castiron/pseuds/Castiron'>Castiron</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Beowulf Fragments [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Beowulf (Poem), The Wellerman (Song)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 10:35:10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>379</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29079159</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Castiron/pseuds/Castiron</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A sailor's tale in Heorot.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Beowulf Fragments [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1033622</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Cwyllan Mannes Bāt</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Another possible missing fragment of Beowulf was recently discovered in the back of a storage room at a special effects company in New Zealand. There is intense debate among scholars as to whether this is a genuine eleventh-century parchment or a skillfully created movie prop; nonetheless, a translation follows.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Forth then sailed a ship / the Gaul-Lord's Brew<br/>
Bow bent in the blast / weaving in the waves<br/>
Bold men, breathe hard / yank at the cords!<br/>
A fortnight had not passed / in that great ship's sea-crossing<br/>
When came storm-dark / the black whale, the mighty fish;<br/>
The sea-king made oath / before God and all his men<br/>
That he would claim the night-fish / bear it back and render its flesh.<br/>
Foolish his pride! / Twixt one wave and the next<br/>
The black whale, the night-fish / swung its tail and struck with speed.<br/>
A mighty splash! Rushing and reeling / the sea-king's men sent spears<br/>
Trailing strong cords / into the great fish!<br/>
Yet the night-fish, the shadow-diver / Returned to the depths<br/>
Pierced with the weapons of wounding / Dragging the bands that bound it.<br/>
Not for love of gold / but for love of glory<br/>
For fame, and for his fathers / the sea-king followed onward;<br/>
No knife he wielded / no cord sundered<br/>
No bonds he broke / helm yielded to the night-fish.<br/>
Forth the fish flew / forth the sea-king followed<br/>
As long as Noah in the ark / so long they sailed<br/>
The Gaul-Lord's Brew / pulled onward by the cords<br/>
Now loose, now firm / never breaking, all unyielding<br/>
Away fell the liegemen / left behind in the wave-race<br/>
Till three and one / the sea-king and his men<br/>
Followed the night-fish / the shadow-diver swimming onward."<br/>
Thus spoke the burn-man / the spring-keeper, the water-raiser,<br/>
Weeping the sea, and no man dared / not Beowulf bold, nor Hrothgar king<br/>
To stay his sorrow. / Mastering his woe,<br/>
The spring-keeper spoke again / his tale completed.<br/>
"This word was I given: / the battle yet rages,<br/>
The shadow-diver's bonds unbroken. / So I must take my boat and go<br/>
To succor my lord / to save the men of the Gaul-Lord's Brew,<br/>
To bear them mead, honey and herbs / to cheer their hearts until the day<br/>
They slay the night-fish / and turn their heads to harbor."</p>
<p>Hail, brave burn-man, spring-keeper! / May your sons' sons sing your deeds<br/>
In tiny boxes, thin of frame / in swish of sand, in hiccup of heartbeat.<br/>
Hail, water-raiser! Swiftly bring your boat / bearing honey and herbs and mead.<br/>
May the black whale's fat be rendered / may the sea-king and his liegemen<br/>
Once more take ease at their own hearths / may their fame live on forever.</p>
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